escapist

[ih-skey-pist]

noun

1. a person who avoids reality by becoming absorbed in entertainment or fantasy.

   I, for one, am an escapist, so pondering whether an anime series is "looking out into the world" isn't something I concern myself with.

2. a person who tries or manages to get out of captivity; an escape artist or escapee.

   In 1864, the celebrated prison escapist Hamilton tunneled his way to freedom with 60 other captured Union officers.

adjective

1. avoiding reality through entertainment or fantasy, or enabling people to do so.

   His childhood taste for cowboy adventures and escapist films like Tarzan gave way to an admiration for realist European directors.

Word History and Origins

Origin of escapist¹

escap(e) ( def. ) + -ist ( def. )

Example Sentences

Television is an escapist medium, and Bargatze, a Red State comedian, vowed to avoid politics.

From Salon

How do you create escapist TV at a time like this where people have issues on either side?

From Los Angeles Times

Enjoy the escapist refreshment, is what she's saying.

From Salon

Keyworth, from Aberystwyth, thinks plenty of people can relate to using escapist TV to cope with tough times - as her character did with Caesar.

From BBC

From there it’s an escapist date of air hockey, carnival rides and, once they settle in a fancy hotel room, the sharing of a sensitive new song.

From Los Angeles Times